Study: Frequent cursing linked to better vocabulary, intelligence

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Does swearing make you smarter? According to a new book, people who curse more possess a stronger vocabulary and higher intelligence.

CBS Los Angeles reports Benjamin Bergen, professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California-San Diego and author of “What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves,” says “swearing might be cathartic and can relieve anger and aggression.”

“It turns out that there are amazing things you can find out about how the mind works, how the brain works, and people’s human sociality just by looking at profanity,” he told CBS Los Angeles. “It turns out that on average, the ones who swear the most also have the biggest vocabulary overall” and could have “higher intelligence.”

According to CBS News, Bergen says that men swear more frequently than women. “But I don’t know whether that actually holds in private. I’m told by some of my female friends that that’s absolutely not true in private,” he added.